Best trade Jerry has ever made !!

[Chocolate Lab]

Honestly, I would not be surprised now to see Jason Williams, for instance, to carve out a nice role for himself next season.

Right, I'm expecting that one as talented as he is.

And I know people want to see the rookies and Wade is kind of old school in preferring not to play them, but it does mean that they're more prepared both mentally and physically when they have had a year of learning how to be a pro.

So just because some of these players aren't playing much right now doesn't mean they can't play. I suspect Mike Hamlin is another one like JW who will look good once he gets a chance.

And that's not even counting the injured guys like BW and Brewster and maybe even Hodge.

 

[chuffly]

Hard to beat 300 high round picks.

You could always get 400 high round picks.

 

[RainMan]

Right, I'm expecting that one as talented as he is.

And I know people want to see the rookies and Wade is kind of old school in preferring not to play them, but it does mean that they're more prepared both mentally and physically when they have had a year of learning how to be a pro.

So just because some of these players aren't playing much doesn't mean they can't play. I suspect Mike Hamlin is another one like JW who will look good once he gets a chance.

And that's not even counting the injured guys like BW and Brewster and maybe even Hodge.

Yep. A trend has emerged with our draft classes under Wade -- they're like a fine wine. Rarely have his draft classes done much in year one (Scandrick/Choice/Jones the exception last year), but they tend to grow exponentially.

Spencer and Free looked like busts until this season. Now they look like cornerstone-like building blocks. Jenkins, especially, looked like a bust from last yera's class. He's now a cornerstone.

We'll see if the '09 group can amount to anything down the road. Phillips, Buehler and Ogletree are at least off to a nice start.

 

[Eskimo]

The 2007 draft wasn't a thing of legend, but Spencer and Free suddenly look damn good. Folk, a Pro Bowler who unfortunately went south, was taken that year. Anderson and Ball, two solid contributors, were drafted as well. Matt Moore was a part of an undrafted class and, yes, unwisely let go. There were misses, too -- James Marten and Stanback.

Any draft where you get a great pass rusher (Spencer) and your future LT has got to be considered good. Some might even say Felix should be added to the '07 draft class because it was a deferred first round pick, in essence.

I also think Anderson is good blocking FB and Ball is a very intriguing player in that he is developing into a safety who started off as a CB. Teams are always looking for guys who can have the instincts/intelligence/tackling ability to play safety yet have the ability to play corner. Maybe we have developed such a hybrid player for ourselves. It'll be interesting to see how he ends up but he has really transformed himself as a player here over the years. When he first got here he was downright skinny and the idea he could play safety would have drawn laughter.

 

[RainMan]

Any draft where you get a great pass rusher (Spencer) and your future LT has got to be considered good. Some might even say Felix should be added to the '07 draft class because it was a deferred first round pick, in essence.

I also think Anderson is good blocking FB and Ball is a very intriguing player in that he is developing into a safety who started off as a CB. Teams are always looking for guys who can have the instincts/intelligence/tackling ability to play safety yet have the ability to play corner. Maybe we have developed such a hybrid player for ourselves. It'll be interesting to see how he ends up but he has really transformed himself as a player here over the years. When he first got here he was downright skinny and the idea he could play safety would have drawn laughter.

Good points all.

One other reason I'm high on what we've done is our approach in free agency. Kosier has been one of, if not our best lineman; Leonard Davis has made three Pro Bowls in three years here; Brooking changed the locker room; Igor has been just as good as Canty but for half the price; Sensabaugh was a marked upgrade.

We've had our whiffs, but all teams do. But when we hit, we really connect. And we connect a lot.

 

[chuffly]

Any draft where you get a great pass rusher (Spencer) and your future LT has got to be considered good. Some might even say Felix should be added to the '07 draft class because it was a deferred first round pick, in essence.

I also think Anderson is good blocking FB and Ball is a very intriguing player in that he is developing into a safety who started off as a CB. Teams are always looking for guys who can have the instincts/intelligence/tackling ability to play safety yet have the ability to play corner. Maybe we have developed such a hybrid player for ourselves. It'll be interesting to see how he ends up but he has really transformed himself as a player here over the years. When he first got here he was downright skinny and the idea he could play safety would have drawn laughter.

Heck, I remember that him making the roster over Oglesby drew laughter. Look who's laughing now.

 

[Hoofbite]

You could always get 400 high round picks.

Now you're just talking crazy.

 

[guag]

That is the most one sided trade in not only Cowboys, not only NFL, not only Football, not only American Sports, ALL Sports in history.


He can't top that.

I always thought it was kinda funny that we ended up signing Walker again anyway near the end of his career.

 

[DallasDomination]

After all is said and done Jerry has been a good owner and Gm. He has stuck by Wade even after all the constant bashing and questioning of his Coach. No need to bring in Shanny or some coach to change things up. We have what works and He knew it.

 

[Eskimo]

Good points all.

One other reason I'm high on what we've done is our approach in free agency. Kosier has been one of, if not our best lineman; Leonard Davis has made three Pro Bowls in three years here; Brooking changed the locker room; Igor has been just as good as Canty but for half the price; Sensabaugh was a marked upgrade.

We've had our whiffs, but all teams do. But when we hit, we really connect. And we connect a lot.

Good point about the FA pickups the last couple of years. Most of the guys Parcells brought in were just flops. Then there was the TO debacle.

Brooking has been great and this has been beat to death. The things that I am most surprised about is how quickly he has become the vocal leader of the defense - love that story about a young DB not knowing his assignments and giving him lip in training camp. The other thing is how well he has played in the zone coverages over the last four weeks. We got our *** handed to us by Norv in week 13 but have played that area much better since then.

Igor has also been great. He is just a steady lunchpail guy who does the job you ask him to do and does not seek glory. He plays RDE and does his job of clogging things up in the running game real well. I think one of the other advantages of Igor is he can slip into NT for awhile if we need him to with his great size and strength and ability to hold up against double-teams.

It really seems as you have earlier mentioned that we now know what kind of guys we are looking for at each spot on the roster. Then we go out and find them: draft, undrafted FA, unrestricted FAs. We then develop those who show potential and release the ones who don't.

BTW, I really share your earlier frustration about Matt Moore. He would have been such a good, young backup QB. Maybe also the type of guy we could have flipped for a 2nd rounder and let McGee become the backup in 2011.

 

[Eskimo]

After all is said and done Jerry has been a good owner and Gm. He has stuck by Wade even after all the constant bashing and questioning of his Coach. No need to bring in Shanny or some coach to change things up. We have what works and He knew it.

At times I really just wish there was a GM between Jerry and the head coach. Just a 3rd voice, one who has been around the league a long time who can add in his two cents worth. Maybe you can hire such a guy and call him GM assistant or Personnel Advisor or something else altogether so JJ can still take credit for football decisions.

 

[Ken]

A couple of points:

Jimmy Williams has so much talent, its hard to see him not improving on Barbie's role next year at the very least....

I really like Alan Ball and as someone said, he is versatile and we may have developed a hybrid s/cb. When he is in the game, I don't worry about it. That says a lot about him as a player...

Other than Steve Smith of the Gmen, who has abused Scandrick in the slot? One of the hardest positions on the field and he has won the majority of the battles.

Doug Free's development really releases some pressure off of this team. Having a quality lineman in the wings really solidifies your line.



Overall I'm ecstatic about where this team is at...

 

[Doomsday]

UM... remember Hershal Walker for 300 high round picks?

That one and the C. Haley trade were his best two trades imo, but this one is definitely his third best trade.

 

[wileedog]

Most of the guys Parcells brought in were just flops. .

Terry Glenn was awful.

Kyle Kosier is terrible.

How Marc Columbo stays in the roster is a mystery.

Jason Ferguson couldn't stop the run at all and wasn't remotely a key figure in the locker room.

Anthony Henry wasn't really all that good before the injuries slowed him down.

Richie Anderson didn't lead the team in receptions.

Dan Campbell was a terrible mentor for Witten.


Seriously, the worst FA Parcells brought in was probably Wiley, and supposedly we did that because Jerry didn't want to pay for Berry.

There are also the QBs I'm sure someone will bring up, but they were always intended to be stopgaps until someone like Romo could be developed. What other FA QBs were available we missed on for those guys?

 

[Eskimo]

Terry Glenn was awful.

Kyle Kosier is terrible.

How Marc Columbo stays in the roster is a mystery.

Jason Ferguson couldn't stop the run at all and wasn't remotely a key figure in the locker room.

Anthony Henry wasn't really all that good before the injuries slowed him down.

Richie Anderson didn't lead the team in receptions.

Dan Campbell was a terrible mentor for Witten.


Seriously, the worst FA Parcells brought in was probably Wiley, and supposedly we did that because Jerry didn't want to pay for Berry.

There are also the QBs I'm sure someone will bring up, but they were always intended to be stopgaps until someone like Romo could be developed. What other FA QBs were available we missed on for those guys?

Terry Glenn was acquired via trade, not as a FA so he doesn't count in this discussion but he was obviously a very good acquisition.

Kosier is the one FA that Parcells brought in that has played many years for us at a high level. He got him for the equivalent of peanuts. Kudos on that one.

Colombo was not so much of a FA in the way I meant. He was more of a medical reclaimation project that turned out. It was still a good find but not exactly what I was referring to.

Ritchie Anderson? meh, he was okay
Ferguson was overpaid and then we ditched him later back to Parcells. We really didn't get all that many useful snaps out of him. He backed up Glover one year. The next year he was okay. The next year he was injured. The next year he was traded for next to nothing. So we got one year of service out of him for a large SB and 3 years of salary and then got nothing in the trade.

Wiley was incredibly bad - one of the worst FA pickups ever. It's not just the money or the fact Berry was there for almost the same money but it was just that the guy he brought in was so bad.

Dan Campbell? meh... he was okay. he was certainly nothing longstanding or spectacular. He did show Witten the ropes but lots of grizzled vets could do the same thing. This contribution is difficult to quantify of judge. I guess what I'm saying is that could have been any of a large number of players. He was brought in to be the #1 TE and a great blocker and was just okay in the role. It was a solid pickup when healthy which wasn't very long.

Marco Rivera was just terrible and released early. You don't bring in OL in their 30s with a history of back problems. His back was flaring up on him in his last year with the Packers and was on the injury report many times. You don't give a guy like that a big signing bonus.

There was that ex-Jets RT who he brought in - just terrible and didn't last the year.

Anthony Henry was not that good. Injured half of the year every year. Wade was afraid to blitz because of how bad Henry was at man coverage. He was a huge liability much of the time he was here outside of the first part of his first year when he was very good. I was so happy when I heard in the offseason that he had been traded away. I didn't even care about what we received in return.

 

[wileedog]

Marco Rivera was just terrible and released early. You don't bring in OL in their 30s with a history of back problems. His back was flaring up on him in his last year with the Packers and was on the injury report many times. You don't give a guy like that a big signing bonus..

Rivera hurt his back on a hotel treadmill AFTER signing. He even offered Jerry to give his signing bonus back. He never had a serious issue with back problems prior.

As for everyone else, again other than Wiley there were no "mostly flops."

 

[RainMan]

I think the challenge we had personnel-wise during the Parcells era was that the cupboard was so incredibly bare when he got here. That guys like Ferguson and Richie Anderson and Anthony Henry can now be looked at as "meh" signings is a testament to how far we've come since then. But I think the sad truth is that those guys were tremendous upgrades over what we were sporting pre-Parcells.

Who did a guy like Henry even replace? Mario Edwards or someone of a similar ilk?

I look at 2003-06 as the first phase of our oganizational restructuring. I don't think it can be argued that we were among the worst-five-run teams in football from about 1997-2002. So we had a lot of bad things to overturn.

I look at 06-present (I see 06 as overlapping both phases as midway through the season is when Romo was introduced, changing everything) as the second phase that took us from taking a bad team to a team capable of contending for the playoffs, to a team expected to make the playoffs and capable of contending for something much bigger.

There were a lot of things Parcells did that I disagree with, and I'm actually not all that sad we now have Phillips instead (never thought I'd say that). But he was instrumental in removing us from the league's doldrums, and I think even relatively "meh" signings like Richie Anderson played a critical role in doing that.

(Side note: I think most of Parcells' flops were the no-name ex-Jets he brought in. Eric Ogbogu and others who were mostly training camp fodder or bottom feeders on the roster. But I think their presence was more for reinforcing Parcells' beliefs than their ability.)

 

[Hoofbite]

I think the challenge we had personnel-wise during the Parcells era was that the cupboard was so incredibly bare when he got here. That guys like Ferguson and Richie Anderson and Anthony Henry can now be looked at as "meh" signings is a testament to how far we've come since then. But I think the sad truth is that those guys were tremendous upgrades over what we were sporting pre-Parcells.

Who did a guy like Henry even replace? Mario Edwards or someone of a similar ilk?

I look at 2003-06 as the first phase of our oganizational restructuring. I don't think it can be argued that we were among the worst-five-run teams in football from about 1997-2002. So we had a lot of bad things to overturn.

I look at 06-present (I see 06 as overlapping both phases as midway through the season is when Romo was introduced, changing everything) as the second phase that took us from taking a bad team to a team capable of contending for the playoffs, to a team expected to make the playoffs and capable of contending for something much bigger.

There were a lot of things Parcells did that I disagree with, and I'm actually not all that sad we now have Phillips instead (never thought I'd say that). But he was instrumental in removing us from the league's doldrums, and I think even relatively "meh" signings like Richie Anderson played a critical role in doing that.

(Side note: I think most of Parcells' flops were the no-name ex-Jets he brought in. Eric Ogbogu and others who were mostly training camp fodder or bottom feeders on the roster. But I think their presence was more for reinforcing Parcells' beliefs than their ability.)

Well said.

 

[chuffly]

Whoa, don't knock Eric Ogbogu too much. He did give us some cool Underarmour commercials while he was here.

 

[SA_Gunslinger]

the best thing i'll give jerry credit for is dumping T.O.